Warts spread at home, in school

Many caused by infection with HPV

(MEDPAGETODAY) — School children primarily get cutaneous warts caused by infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) from family members and classmates, a Dutch study showed.

After accounting for other factors, having a family member with warts was associated with double the risk of a child developing warts (hazard ratio 2.08, 95% CI 1.52 to 2.86), according to Sjoerd Bruggink, MD, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues.

The prevalence of warts within a class also was associated with a greater risk of developing warts (HR 1.20 for every 10% increase in prevalence, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.41), the researchers reported online in Pediatrics.